


Cold Feet

by Theonewhosawitall



Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Coda, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Things written at 2 am are between me and ao3, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:07:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29147187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonewhosawitall/pseuds/Theonewhosawitall
Summary: Instead of Kumu and Thomas talking to Juliet before the wedding, it's Rick.
Relationships: Juliet Higgins/Orville Wilbur Richard "Rick" Wright
Comments: 11
Kudos: 13





	Cold Feet

Juliet looked breathtakingly in her wedding dress. Long, sleek, elegant, it looked as though it had been made with her in mind. And with her hair done up to coil around her head and frame her face and decorated with white flowers, she looked just as elegant as a real bride.

Rick dropped his head against the doorframe as he quietly watched her for a moment longer. She was adjusting her hair in the mirror behind her. From this angle he could see her and it wouldn't be long until she noticed him too. She looked nervous.

No, not nervous.

She looked sad.

Rick's chest ached for her. No bride should look so sad before their wedding. Especially one as beautiful as Juliet.

She gasped when her eyes flicked up in the reflection and finally noticed him lingering in the doorway.

"Really Rick? You don’t have to spy on me, I'm not that late," she stated.

"I'm, I'm not... you look beautiful," Rick said.

He couldn't shift the weight out of his chest as he spoke. She turned to face him as he wandered closer. The smile she gave him was fake. Badly faked. It was too soft and her eyes gave her away.

"Thank you. Is everyone ready?" She asked.

"Are you?" He asked.

Her eyes flicked away from him and down to the ground. Both of them knew exactly what it meant. The air in the room was hanging heavy and it made Rick's heart ache harder. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand seeing her looking so... resigned. This wasn’t the Juliet he knew and loved. He couldn't risk losing her for good.

His voice cracked under her nerves as everything in him told him to shut up and keep his opinions to himself. "Don’t do this Jules. Don't get married."

Juliet shifted but she wouldn’t look at him as she said, "I don’t have a choice-"

"You always have a choice."

"katsumoto was right about magnum. We're far too close to pretend that we're in love all the time. TC is a good man. He's a good friend. I'm sure it'll be easier-"

"TC is. He’s all that and more. But this isn't about him. It's about you. You don't want to do this."

Juliet's chest felt like a vice. Her whole life was built around using her head and following the logical side of things. Logically this was the best way forward. Not so very long ago she would have been able to bury her doubts, freeze her heart and ignore them both. But ever since coming to this island and finding the people she had come to think of as family, her heart had thawed. Now it was sitting in the bottom of her chest like a ball and chain.

Rick spoke like he knew her. Like he understood how she worked. And she hated that he was right. Not even Richard had been able to read her mind like he seemed to. At least, if he ever had, he didn’t care enough to try and fix the problems for her.

But Rick stared at her with those huge lagoon blue eyes, and that furrowed brow, and that desperate look on his face that begged her to let him help.

"Are you asking me not to marry TC because you don’t want me to get married, or because you want me to marry someone else?" Her voice was quiet but the meaning echoed around them like a drum.

Rick held her gaze even as he swallowed. She felt her heart stop for a moment. Just a moment. Like it could finally see another way out of this mess. But then Rick's nerves got the better of him.

"I’m not asking you to marry me okay? If we ever got married, it would be for a much more important reason than a green card. But I know you," he urged. He took her hand and she bit back a gasp. "You're wondering why you don’t feel right getting married and the answer is simple."

His eyes pleaded silently with hers, imploring her to see what was right in front of her. She bowed her head to do so. The moment she allowed herself to see it, the answer was clear as a bell in her head. A deep, broken, mourning bell.

"I can't marry someone I don't love. The only person I've ever wanted to marry is dead... this would sully what we could have had," she whispered.

Rick nodded in agreement as he squeezed her hand. Juliet's heart broke in her chest. She felt her eyes brim with tears. This day was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Richard was supposed to be in it. Giving that up just to stay here, it felt like betraying his memory. Rick gently laid his forehead against hers. He held onto her hand so tightly. As if no one could take her away just so long as he didn’t let go...

"I don't want you to go anywhere. I really don't. But love is the most important thing in the world. As much as we like to pretend we're above that, people like you and I believe it more than romantics like Tommy. You'll regret this for the rest of your life and I cant watch you go through that."

Juliet's breath shook as she croaked, "If I leave I could be gone months!"

His hand squeezed hers again, promising, "I'll wait. We all will."

And they would. Of course they would. She was family. Rick honestly wasn’t sure how long Magnum would survive Zeus and Apollo, or vice versa. It would be weird without her, but they'd struggle through.

Juliet gave a sigh. "I only just started to feel at home here..."

"It's not going anywhere."

"Things change."

"Yeah... yeah they do but the important things don't. Things that matter most, they always last if you make them."

Rick had closed his eyes against her forehead but he opened them again when he felt a tear roll down her cheek and hit his. He swallowed. Whatever she decided, he couldn't stay like this. He couldn't hold her so close, not knowing if he never would again. Not knowing if he would even see her again. She was either going to leave and leave a hole in his life for an undetermined amount of time, or she was going to marry one of his best friends and be off limits forever.

Fake marriage or not, you can't date your best friend's ex wife.

Rick cleared his throat and reluctantly took a step back. "But, its not my decision. It's yours. You'll do whatever you thinks best and I'll support that the whole way. I trust you. Even if you don’t trust yourself."

Juliet stared at him for a moment as his hand lingered around hers. He took one last sweeping look at her, to remember what she looked like before he lost her forever, and let go of her hand.

Rick's footsteps were loud in his ears. They echoed around him. He could feel the world around him spinning. There was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it. Not even when TC grinned and raised an arm to welcome him back. And when TC asked where Higgy was, it sounded so far away. Like he was underwater,

Rick didn’t know how to answer. He couldn’t even make his voice work. Kumu gave him a funny look and said she'd go find out. Magnum tilted his head at Rick. Rick felt his hand clap his shoulder. It was grounding.

"You alright man?"

By the time Magnum reached the end of his sentence, Rick's hearing was back to normal. It still took him a moment to choke the water out of his lungs though.

"Yeah! Yeah man, you know me, I always get emotional at weddings!"

Rick forced a grin and Thomas laughed and slung an arm around his shoulders. TC called them both fools, but he was smiling. They were all smiling until Kumu picked her way over to the end of the aisle and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me everyone! Can I have your attention?! Mahalo. I've spoken with Juliet and I'm afraid that there will be no wedding today. She's gratefully to all of you for coming, but unfortunately it's over now. Mahalo for coming, please take care getting home."

There was uproar, obviously. The few guests they had in attendance- mostly staff to be honest - had questions. They wanted answers. TC and Magnum wanted answers. Kumu didn’t have any to give but it didn’t stop them swarming her. And for one, quiet moment, unnoticed by anyone around him, Rick let out his only genuine smile of the day.


End file.
